Originally posted by fluff The comments that Simon is a manipulator and a liar seem to stem from the fact he didn't think Clay was as good as many people here.

This is incorrect for me. The reason I think Simon is a manipulator is because he implied so in the Time magazine article. I agreed with about 99% of the things he said about Clay. So his criticisms never bothered me. Plus I respected Clay even more when he never used the critiques as a crutch. He just improved.

Do I think Simon should go? It really doesn't matter to me because I seriously doubt I'll be watching AI3. This has nothing to do with my favorite not winning AI2. If Clay wasn't on AI2, Ruben would have gotten my total support, so as you can see I enjoy both of them immensely. The reason I won't be watching is when I really thought it was American Idol it was fun and exciting, but when I realized it was more of a producer/judge's made for good TV drama Idol it lost it's zeal for me.

I felt like, if anything, Simon did Ruben an injustice by hardly ever criticizing him....look at how much Clay improved by what I still believe was "constructive criticism." If all the judges were like Paula (and for that matter, the guest judges), we might have seen a markedly different show.

Simon is blunt, sure...but IMO entertaining in his analyses. Paula is the one who needs to go! And Randy seemed to give heartfelt opinions that were also usually on the money.

Naomi Judd??? ACK! Heaven help us if AI turns into Star Search!:boredball

Originally posted by clays_nation Simon is a self-admitted liar and as such is not suited to be the judge of anything.

Have to agree with this. When Simon admitted in that article about the unfair judging and wanting Ruben, not Kim, in the top 2, he lost all credibility as a judge. Unbiased critiques? As Randy would say, "Yeah, Right!"

IMO, I think Simon is a key part of the show and AI would be seriously lacking something if he left. He definitely made the show last year and though I didn't like him as much this year (I'm still angry about the Carmen wildcard choice and how one week he wants Clay to win and the next week he totally changes his tune)...

However, sure, Simon may be unfair and all that everyone seems to accuse him of...But...I feel that Simon knows what he's talking about (not all the time though....i.e. Carmen). Simon has been in the record business for many years and he knows what will work and what will not work. Also, doesn't his record company have somewhat of a stake on the winner of the competition? Also, I enjoy his honesty. Harsh at times, yes but with Paula on the show making stupid comments, you need someone harsh.

As for Randy and Paula. I'm not a huge Randy fan...He's quite annoying but I get a good laugh out of him once in awhile. And Paula...While the majority of her comments are stupid, I guess someone has to be the *nice* one...Always gotta love her "I'm speechless" line.

I think there is a good balance between the judges...I enjoyed that last year and this year. Though, if Simon left it would be the beginning of the end. However, I'm sure he'll be offered a ton of $$ and he'll be back for another season.

Originally posted by aikenfan Have to agree with this. When Simon admitted in that article about the unfair judging and wanting Ruben, not Kim, in the top 2, he lost all credibility as a judge. Unbiased critiques? As Randy would say, "Yeah, Right!"